bet365 vs Betfair: Head-to-Head Comparison for Irish Bettors

Price and margin: the numbers that decide value

Value comes from margin. The lower the average overround across a market, the more the odds return to the bettor over a long series of bets.

In the sampled comparison, Betfair's sportsbook posted an average margin of about 4.29% across 213 sampled markets. bet365 sat at about 7.44% across 30 sampled markets. On the same fixtures, that is a meaningful difference — roughly three percentage points of margin that stay with the bettor rather than the book.

Best-price share reinforces the point. Betfair held the outright best price on 53.1% of the markets measured. bet365 registered a 0% best-price share in this specific sample — a small sample of 30 markets, so treat it as directional rather than absolute, but it aligns with the margin data.

On our odds rating both are close: Betfair 8.9, bet365 8.8. That near-tie reflects that bet365's pricing is competitive on headline markets; Betfair's edge shows up in the aggregate across a wider spread of prices and in the exchange-adjacent pricing discipline that keeps its margins tight.

Market coverage and sports depth

This is bet365's territory. bet365 scores 9.6 for market coverage and 9.5 for sports depth, against Betfair's 8.8 and 8.6.

For Irish bettors, that breadth matters most on secondary competitions and deep in-play trees. Across football (Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, Champions League, Europa League, Copa Libertadores, World Cup), tennis (ATP and WTA Tour), Horse Racing, GAA, Rugby and Golf, bet365 typically lists more sub-markets per event — player props, corners, cards and expanded Bet Builder legs.

Betfair's coverage is strong but narrower on the deepest ancillary markets. If your staking concentrates on match result, over/under, handicaps and racing win/each-way, the coverage gap is small and Betfair's pricing advantage dominates. If you routinely build multi-leg same-game combinations or bet obscure lines, bet365's depth is the practical differentiator.

Live betting and streaming

bet365 leads on live capability, 9.4 to Betfair's 8.7. Both operators list Live Betting, Cash Out and Live Streaming as features.

bet365's live streaming catalogue is broad across football and tennis, and its in-play market count is larger, consistent with its coverage scores. Betfair also offers in-play and streaming, but with a shallower live market tree.

One structural note: Betfair's ecosystem includes an exchange model alongside the sportsbook. The pricing figures above reflect sportsbook markets in the sample. Exchange liquidity is a separate consideration and is not part of the sampled margin data here.

Bet Builder and features

bet365 lists Bet Builder as a feature and scores 9.0 for it. Betfair scores 7.4 on the same metric.

bet365's feature set: Live Betting, Cash Out, Bet Builder, Live Streaming and Mobile Betting. Betfair's: Live Betting, Cash Out, Live Streaming and Fast Payout.

For same-game multiples — combining, for example, a Premier League result, both teams to score and a shots-on-target line — bet365 is the stronger builder both by rating and by the depth of legs its coverage supports. Betfair's headline strength is Fast Payout among its listed features.

On overall features, bet365 rates 9.2 to Betfair's 8.6.

Payments, deposits and withdrawals

Both operators support Debit Card and PayPal, with a €10 minimum deposit and a stated withdrawal window of 0–24 hours.

bet365 additionally lists Apple Pay and Revolut Pay — relevant for Irish bettors who default to phone-based payment. That wider rail set is reflected in bet365's payments rating of 8.8 versus Betfair's 8.4, and its withdrawals rating of 8.9 versus 8.5.

If your priority is Apple Pay or Revolut Pay at deposit, bet365 is the only one of the two listing those methods. If Debit Card or PayPal covers your needs, the two are functionally equivalent on the rails and on the stated 0–24h payout window.

See Apple Pay betting sites and Revolut Pay betting sites for the wider Irish shortlist on those methods.

Apps and mobile

bet365 scores 9.3 for its app; Betfair scores 8.4. Both provide iOS and Android apps.

The rating gap is consistent with bet365's stronger live capability and feature depth — more markets, integrated streaming and Bet Builder all surface within the app. Betfair's app is capable but rates lower on the same scale.

For mobile-first bettors who live in-play, the app score compounds bet365's coverage and live advantages. For value-first bettors who place pre-match singles, the app difference is secondary to Betfair's margin edge.

Licensing and safety in Ireland

Both bet365 and Betfair are listed as licensed operators. Betting in Ireland is overseen by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), and the minimum age is 18.

On our licence-safety metric, bet365 scores 9.5 and Betfair 9.2 — both in the high band. We do not hold specific licence numbers for either operator in this dataset, so we state licence status without inventing registration detail.

For context on the regulated Irish market, see our legal betting sites Ireland overview.

Verdict: which one and for whom

Pick Betfair if value is your first criterion. A 4.29% average margin and a 53.1% best-price share in the sample mean better returns over a long series of bets on the markets measured. That is the clearest, most quantifiable advantage in this comparison.

Pick bet365 if breadth and mobile experience matter more than a few points of margin. It leads on market coverage (9.6), sports depth (9.5), live capability (9.4), Bet Builder (9.0) and app (9.3), and it adds Apple Pay and Revolut Pay.

Many Irish bettors hold both: Betfair for price-sensitive singles and racing, bet365 for deep in-play, streaming and same-game builders. The datasets support that split rather than a single winner. For deeper detail see the bet365 review and Betfair review, or compare the wider field on our comparisons hub.